I work for a carrier, but it makes no sense for my mother to have a phone with a plan when all she uses it for is travel. There is almost 0 reception where she lives!

You're wasting your time arguing with this guy. Anyone who cannot understand why some people don't want to spend thirty or forty bucks per month for a phone they'll barely ever use is utterly clueless.

I just bought a trac phone for my mom along with a card for 250 min. In total, she had 350 minutes. After making one call and receiving two calls that she did not answer, she was down to 150 minutes. That's 200 minutes for one call. Anybody have that experience? I made one of those calls and a voice said her voice mail was not set up so it couldn't take more than a minute off her time. What gives with this service?